


And Then There Was One

by h00ligan



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, drugs cw, suicide cw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-01-20 15:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21283931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h00ligan/pseuds/h00ligan
Summary: That house was never home, with the so-called siblings lighting out of their constructed "family" the first chance they got.orHow the siblings moved out
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue: Those Who Didn't Come Back

Luther always knew that Five would be the first to leave, in some abstract way or another. Five was too ambitious for his own good, always pushing their father too hard, never listening to him because apparently a thirteen-year-old boy knew what was best over Dad. But Dad always knew what was best, that's what he told himself when he demanded another lap in the pool, to stretch his endurance, when more weight was added to his equipment that would make him feel like he was being crushed. He didn't know it now, but it was for the good of the team, of his siblings. He'd do anything for his siblings, even Klaus, whose breath stunk of alcohol almost always. Even Vanya, who only watched and took notes while they trained.

It didn't stop the shock, though, when Five stabbed the table in the middle of dinner and the two had the same argument they always did. 

Nobody really paid attention to the argument except for Luther; it was a regular occurrence for the past year or so. Interrupting dinner because it was the one time that Dad was there and not cooped up in his study. 

That's why it was such a shock when he just left the dinner table, and Luther never saw his brother again. He was sure he was dead, but, well, Klaus never saw him, not that that mattered anyway.

* * *

Ben was the first sibling to die. Luther didn't expect Ben to be the first one to die. He thought it'd be Klaus, with track marks beginning to manifest themselves on his arms and leaving the house for days at a time between missions, not that Dad cared.

"If Number Four wants to poison himself, let him do so. He's refused to make any forward motion in his powers, I have no use for him." It's what he's always said when Klaus went missing and Diego asked where he was. In a way, Luther felt guilty that he was never there to stand up for Klaus, but there was a truth to his words. If Klaus wanted to live like this, there wasn't anything they could do, and that was that.

Until he saw Ben on the floor of his room with a broken neck and Klaus looking numbly at the corpse, eyes red, whether from tears or drugs, he didn't know.

Something about that visual hit him hard, the bedsheet tied around a light fixture, his brother's body on the ground, dead, not even during the mission, and his other brother possibly high off his ass, a shadow of what he used to be when they were fourteen. In that moment, somehow, Luther knew the family was over.

How could it not be, with half the family dead? And in that moment, his rage found a target, Klaus.

Klaus was the weak link in the family. Always sick, always too scared to deal with his powers, always taking the easy way out. He probably taught Ben to take the easy way out, too. It would be just like him, to destroy everything without a care for anyone else, in the family, in the planet. He grabbed him. 

"What did you do?! Do you know what this is going to do for us, for the team? You probably told him that it was a good idea, didn't you?" He didn't know the words that were coming out of his mouth, all rage and grief. Still, Klaus was nonresponsive, on autopilot like he had been for the past two years. "At least Ben did the job and didn't make us watch for years."

Klaus' jaw set as he looked to the side. It was, unsurprisingly, Diego who stepped between the two of them. Diego always let Klaus get off easy. He was too soft on Klaus, always chose not to see the scars from where Klaus broke skin from scratching himself, chose not to see the track marks, or the needles in the bathroom. If he was cruel, he'd say that Diego felt about Klaus what Luther felt about Allison, but he wasn't cruel, he was a leader. "Luther, get Mom," Diego said at length, turning to hold Klaus like he was somehow made of porcelain. 

He and Mom carried Ben's body to the MedBay. All Reginald did when he saw was shake his head. "What a waste."


	2. Two and Four

Luther hadn't seen Klaus for weeks after Ben died, aside from mealtimes and missions. He wasn't as high anymore, which was a good thing, but his mental state only seemed to deteriorate between the depression and the hallucinations.

Allison was driving the car to the mission, a museum that was supposed to be robbed tonight, and Klaus seemed to be out of it, muttering to air, looking at Luther, but more something... between the two.

"You think I can score some blow in Denmark?" A pause. "Well, yeah, I know _pot's_ the legal drug, but coke's like only half a step up." Another pause. "Oh, and what's Reginald gonna do, huh? I'm not exactly sure he can come up with a new torment."

"Ben's body is barely cold, and all you can think about is getting high?" Luther asked through gritted teeth.

"Ben's been dead for four months, Luther," he sighed and rolled down a window, lighting up a cigarette. "And you really don't want to be using his name, considering he hasn't said a decent thing about you since."

"Oh, that's how it is again? You're pretending to use your powers to deflect anything anyone says about you? We're not twelve anymore, Klaus." 

Klaus glared at Luther, and he wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but he almost lifted a few inches off the seat and Allison suddenly lost control of the car. "Don't."

Diego reached between the pair from the front seat. "Allison, pull over."

Luther and Diego switched seats, Klaus readjusting himself and unbuckling, pulling Ben's hoodie tighter around himself. "I know none of you believe me, but you don't have to be a dick about it."

"It's not that, Klaus," Allison piped up. "You just haven't been yourself since he died."

Klaus started to pipe up, but took heed of the microphones Reginald had equipped them all with as a monitoring system. "You don't know shit about shit."

* * *

The mission went well, aside from Diego, who had gotten his hand slammed with a hammer, Klaus binding it up. "Mom will be able to do more, but it shouldn't be permanent damage."

Luther set the plane to autopilot. "It wouldn't have hit you if Four didn't distract you while you were throwing."

"Oh, I'm Four now?"

"Luther, Klaus didn't distract me, it was a freak accident." Klaus looked regretful, regardless. "Do you have to be such a dick to him?"

"He's a liability, Diego. I don't know why he even still goes on missions, he's always high."

"Fuck this." Klaus grumbled, placing something in Diego's hand. "Fuck this whole family."

"Klaus," Diego began. 

"No, I want to hear what Spaceboy over here wants to say!" he stood. "Ever since we were kids, you treated me like I was fucking Vanya! You call me crazy, a stoner, a junkie, useless, you accuse me of Ben's suicide, is there anything else you want to add?"

"You stole Mom and Allison's clothes."

"What is this, the '50s? Is it _illegal_ to wear the odd pair of heels? Christ, I didn't know that the old man's bigotry would rub off on you, too, but I guess I was wrong."

The plane landed soon after, and Mom escorted Diego to the medical unit, while Klaus, defeated, handed Ben's hoodie to Pogo and let him lead him off... somewhere. 

"You need more medicine, Master Klaus."

"I know, Pogo."

* * *

The house was quiet for the next month. Klaus only emerged once a week for meal times, Grace and Pogo otherwise bringing his meals to him. 

"Why isn't Klaus here?"

"Number Four needs special monitoring. You know not to interrupt dinner."

And that was the end of it. Klaus' powers had growing pains, Dad needed to make sure he didn't hurt himself, even if it seemed to make Diego angry, but Luther knew Dad had a reason for everything. He would probably hurt himself otherwise.

And then one night, neither were there anymore, the only evidence things were off was the bed made up and the window left open.

Luther regretted it, because he knew Klaus could only lead Diego down the wrong paths.


End file.
